Display screen front panel of HMD for viewing by users viewing the HMD player

ABSTRACT

Method for providing image of HMD user to a non-HMD user includes, receiving a first image of a user including the user&#39;s facial features captured by an external camera when the user is not wearing a head mounted display (HMD). A second image capturing a portion of the facial features of the user when the user is wearing the HMD is received. An image overlay data is generated by mapping contours of facial features captured in the second image with contours of corresponding facial features captured in the first image. The image overlay data is forwarded to the HMD for rendering on a second display screen that is mounted on a front face of the HMD.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 USC § 119 to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/357,348, filed on Jun. 30, 2016, and entitled,“Display Screen Front Panel of HMD for Viewing by Users Viewing the HMDPlayer,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to methods and systems for providing aview of a user's changing expressions while interacting with content ona head-mounted display.

2. Description of the Related Art

The video game industry has seen many changes over the years. Ascomputing power has expanded, developers of video games have likewisecreated game software that takes advantage of these increases incomputing power. To this end, video game developers have been codinggames that incorporate sophisticated operations and mathematics toproduce a very realistic game experience.

Various gaming platforms are sold in the form of game consoles. As iswell known, the game console is designed to connect to a monitor(usually a television) and enable user interaction through handheldcontrollers. The game console is designed with specialized processinghardware, including a CPU, a graphics synthesizer for processingintensive graphics operations, a vector unit for performing geometrytransformations, and other glue hardware, firmware, and software. Thegame console is further designed with an optical disc tray for receivinggame compact discs for local play through the game console.

Online gaming is also possible, where a user can interactively playagainst or with other users over the Internet. As game complexitycontinues to intrigue players, game and hardware manufacturers havecontinued to innovate to enable additional interactivity and computerprograms.

A growing trend in the computer gaming industry is to develop games thatincrease the interaction between the user and the gaming system. One wayof accomplishing a richer interactive experience is to use wireless gamecontrollers whose movement is tracked by the gaming system in order totrack the player's movements and use these movements as inputs for thegame. Generally speaking, gesture input refers to having an electronicdevice such as a computing system, video game console, smart appliance,etc., react to some gesture made by the player and captured by theelectronic device.

Another way of accomplishing a more immersive interactive experience isto use a head-mounted display. A head-mounted display is worn by theuser and can be configured to present various graphics, such as a viewof a virtual space. The graphics presented on a head-mounted display cancover a large portion or even all of a user's field of view. Hence, ahead-mounted display can provide a visually immersive experience to theuser.

Another growing trend in the industry involves the development ofcloud-based gaming systems. Such systems may include a remote processingserver that executes a game application, and communicates with a localthin client that can be configured to receive input from users andrender video on a display.

It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems forproviding a visual of content that a user is viewing on a head mounteddisplay to other users. It should be appreciated that the presentinvention can be implemented in numerous ways, such as a process, anapparatus, a system, a device or a method on a computer readable medium.Several inventive embodiments of the present invention are describedbelow.

In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes: receivinga first image of a user including facial features of the user ascaptured by an external camera when the user is not wearing a headmounted display (HMD); receiving a second image capturing a portion ofthe facial features of the user when the user is wearing the HMD, theportion of the facial features captured includes a current expression ofthe user as captured by an inward facing camera; generating an imageoverlay data by mapping contours of facial features captured in thesecond image with contours of corresponding facial features captured inthe first image; and forwarding the image overlay data for rendering ona second display screen that is mounted on a front face of the HMD.

In another embodiment a head mounted display (HMD) device is provided.The HMD device includes a lens of optics for viewing content; a firstdisplay screen disposed behind the lens of optics such that the lens ofoptics is between the display screen and an eye of a user, when the HMDdevice is worn by the user; an inward facing camera mounted on an insideof the HMD and directed toward the eye of the user, the inward facingcamera configured to capture an image of a portion of facial features ofthe user that is behind the HMD; an electronic circuitry to communicatethe image to a computer communicatively coupled to the HMD; and a seconddisplay screen disposed on a front face of the HMD device and facingforward, the second display screen is configured to render the imagecapturing one or more facial features of the user.

Other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for interactive gameplay of a video game, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a head-mounted display (HMD), in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates the function of a HMD in conjunctionwith an executing video game, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrates a HMD user as viewed by a non-HMD user beforeand after implementing the disclosure. FIGS. 4D-4F illustrate variousemotions of the HMD user that is rendered on a second display screen ofthe HMD for non-HMD users to view, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example views of content that is rendered for thenon-HMD users when the non-HMD users are observing the HMD users, inaccordance to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6A illustrates operation flow of a method that is used forpresenting the expressions of a HMD user to a non-HMD user, while theHMD user is interacting with content, in one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6B illustrates operation flow of a method that is used forpresenting the expressions of a HMD user to a non-HMD user, while theHMD user is interacting with content, in an alternate embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7 illustrates components of a head-mounted display, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a Game System, according to variousembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following embodiments describe methods and apparatus for providing avisual of a game scene of a video game that a user of a head mounteddisplay is viewing to other viewers who are facing the user of the headmounted display.

It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art, that the presentinvention may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process operations have not beendescribed in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for interactive gameplay of a video game, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. A user 100 is shownwearing a head-mounted display (HMD) 102. The HMD 102 is worn in amanner similar to glasses, goggles, or a helmet, and is configured todisplay a video game from an interactive video game or other contentfrom interactive application, to the user 100. The HMD 102 provides avery immersive experience to the user by virtue of its provision ofdisplay mechanisms in close proximity to the user's eyes. Thus, the HMD102 can provide display regions to each of the user's eyes which occupylarge portions or even the entirety of the field of view of the user. Insome embodiments, the HMD 102 provides a very immersive experience byblocking a view of a real-world environment.

In one embodiment, the HMD 102 can be connected to a computer 106. Theconnection to computer 106 can be wired or wireless. The computer 106can be any general or special purpose computer known in the art,including but not limited to, a gaming console, personal computer,laptop, tablet computer, mobile device, cellular phone, tablet, thinclient, set-top box, media streaming device, etc. In one embodiment, thecomputer 106 can be configured to execute a video game, and output thevideo and audio from the video game for rendering by the HMD 102. Thecomputer 106 is not restricted to executing a video game but may also beconfigured to execute an interactive application, which outputs contentfor rendering by the HMD 102.

The user 100 may operate a controller 104 to provide input for the videogame. Additionally, a camera 108 can be configured to capture image ofthe interactive environment in which the user 100 is located. Thesecaptured images can be analyzed to determine the location and movementsof the user 100, the HMD 102, and the controller 104. In one embodiment,the controller 104 includes a light or other marker elements which canbe tracked to determine its location and orientation. Additionally, asdescribed in further detail below, the HMD 102 may include one or morelights or marker elements, which can be tracked to determine thelocation and orientation of the HMD 102. The camera 108 can include oneor more microphones to capture sound from the interactive environment.Sound captured by a microphone array may be processed to identify thelocation of a sound source. Sound from an identified location can beselectively utilized or processed to the exclusion of other sounds notfrom the identified location. Furthermore, the camera 108 can be definedto include multiple image capture devices (e.g. stereoscopic pair ofcameras), an IR camera, a depth camera, and combinations thereof.

In another embodiment, the computer 106 functions as a thin client incommunication over a network with a cloud gaming provider 112. The cloudgaming provider 112 maintains and executes the video game being playedby the user 102. The computer 106 transmits inputs from the HMD 102, thecontroller 104 and the camera 108, to the cloud gaming provider, whichprocesses the inputs to affect the game state of the executing videogame. The output from the executing video game, such as video data,audio data, and haptic feedback data, is transmitted to the computer106. The computer 106 may further process the data before transmissionor may directly transmit the data to the relevant devices. For example,video and audio streams are provided to the HMD 102, whereas the hapticfeedback data is used to generate a vibration feedback command, which isprovided to the controller 104.

In one embodiment, the HMD 102, controller 104, and camera 108, maythemselves be networked devices that connect to the network 110 tocommunicate with the cloud gaming provider 112. For example, thecomputer 106 may be a local network device, such as a router, that doesnot otherwise perform video game processing, but facilitates passagenetwork traffic. The connections to the network by the HMD 102,controller 104, and camera (i.e., image capture device) 108 may be wiredor wireless.

In yet another embodiment, the computer 106 may execute a portion of thevideo game, while the remaining portion of the video game may beexecuted on a cloud gaming provider 112. For example, a request fordownloading the video game from the computer 106 may be serviced by thecloud gaming provider 112. While the request is being serviced, thecloud gaming provider 112 may execute a portion of the video game andprovide game content to the computer 106 for rendering on the HMD 102.The computer 106 may communicate with the cloud gaming provider 112 overa network 110. Inputs received from the HMD 102, the controller 104 andthe camera 108, are transmitted to the cloud gaming provider 112, whilethe video game is downloading on to the computer 106. The cloud gamingprovider 112 processes the inputs to affect the game state of theexecuting video game. The output from the executing video game, such asvideo data, audio data, and haptic feedback data, is transmitted to thecomputer 106 for onward transmission to the respective devices.

Once the video game has been completely downloaded to the computer 106,the computer 106 may execute the video game and resume game play of thevideo game from where it was left off on the cloud gaming provider 112.The inputs from the HMD 102, the controller 104, and the camera 108 areprocessed by the computer 106, and the game state of the video game isadjusted, in response to the inputs received from the HMD 102, thecontroller 104, and the camera 108. In such embodiments, a game state ofthe video game at the computer 106 is synchronized with the game stateat the cloud gaming provider 112. The synchronization may be doneperiodically to keep the state of the video game current at both thecomputer 106 and the cloud gaming provider 112. The computer 106 maydirectly transmit the output data to the relevant devices. For example,video and audio streams are provided to the HMD 102, whereas the hapticfeedback data is used to generate a vibration feedback command, which isprovided to the controller 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates a head-mounted display (HMD), in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. As shown, the HMD 102 includes a pluralityof lights 200A-H. Each of these lights may be configured to havespecific shapes, and can be configured to have the same or differentcolors. The lights 200A, 200B, 200C, and 200D are arranged on the frontsurface of the HMD 102. The lights 200E and 200F are arranged on a sidesurface of the HMD 102. And the lights 200G and 200H are arranged atcorners of the HMD 102, so as to span the front surface and a sidesurface of the HMD 102. It will be appreciated that the lights can beidentified in captured images of an interactive environment in which auser uses the HMD 102. Based on identification and tracking of thelights, the location and orientation of the HMD 102 in the interactiveenvironment can be determined. It will further be appreciated that someof the lights may or may not be visible depending upon the particularorientation of the HMD 102 relative to an image capture device. Also,different portions of lights (e.g. lights 200G and 200H) may be exposedfor image capture depending upon the orientation of the HMD 102 relativeto the image capture device.

In one embodiment, the lights can be configured to indicate a currentstatus of the HMD to others in the vicinity. For example, some or all ofthe lights may be configured to have a certain color arrangement,intensity arrangement, be configured to blink, have a certain on/offconfiguration, or other arrangement indicating a current status of theHMD 102. By way of example, the lights can be configured to displaydifferent configurations during active gameplay of a video game(generally gameplay occurring during an active timeline or within ascene of the game) versus other non-active gameplay aspects of a videogame, such as navigating menu interfaces or configuring game settings(during which the game timeline or scene may be inactive or paused). Thelights might also be configured to indicate relative intensity levels ofgameplay. For example, the intensity of lights, or a rate of blinking,may increase when the intensity of gameplay increases. In this manner, aperson external to the user may view the lights on the HMD 102 andunderstand that the user is actively engaged in intense gameplay, andmay not wish to be disturbed at that moment.

The HMD 102 may additionally include one or more microphones. In theillustrated embodiment, the HMD 102 includes microphones 204A and 204Bdefined on the front surface of the HMD 102, and microphone 204C definedon a side surface of the HMD 102. By utilizing an array of microphones,sound from each of the microphones can be processed to determine thelocation of the sound's source. This information can be utilized invarious ways, including exclusion of unwanted sound sources, associationof a sound source with a visual identification, etc.

The HMD 102 may also include one or more image capture devices. In theillustrated embodiment, the HMD 102 is shown to include image capturedevices 202A and 202B. By utilizing a stereoscopic pair of image capturedevices, three-dimensional (3D) images and video of the environment canbe captured from the perspective of the HMD 102. Such video can bepresented to the user to provide the user with a “video see-through”ability while wearing the HMD 102. That is, though the user cannot seethrough the HMD 102 in a strict sense, the video captured by the imagecapture devices 202A and 202B can nonetheless provide a functionalequivalent of being able to see the environment external to the HMD 102as if looking through the HMD 102. Such video can be augmented withvirtual elements to provide an augmented reality experience, or may becombined or blended with virtual elements in other ways. Though in theillustrated embodiment, two cameras are shown on the front surface ofthe HMD 102, it will be appreciated that there may be any number ofexternally facing cameras installed on the HMD 102, oriented in anydirection. For example, in another embodiment, there may be camerasmounted on the sides of the HMD 102 to provide additional panoramicimage capture of the environment.

FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates the function of the HMD 102 inconjunction with an executing video game, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. In some implementation, the video game isbeing executed on a computer 400 that is communicatively coupled to theHMD 102. The computer may be local to the HMD (e.g., part of local areanetwork) or may be remotely located (e.g., part of a wide area network,a cloud network, etc.) and accessed via a network. The communicationbetween the HMD 102 and the computer 400 may follow a wired or awireless connection protocol. The executing video game is defined by agame engine 320 which receives inputs to update a game state of thevideo game. The game state of the video game can be defined, at least inpart, by values of various parameters of the video game which definevarious aspects of the current gameplay, such as the presence andlocation of objects, the conditions of a virtual environment, thetriggering of events, user profiles, view perspectives, etc.

In the illustrated embodiment, the game engine receives, by way ofexample, controller input 314, audio input 316 and motion input 318. Thecontroller input 314 may be defined from the operation of a gamingcontroller separate from the HMD 102, such as a hand-held gamingcontroller 104 (e.g. Sony DUALSHOCK®4 wireless controller, SonyPlayStation® Move motion controller) or wearable controllers, such aswearable glove interface controller, etc. By way of example, controllerinput 314 may include directional inputs, button presses, triggeractivation, movements, gestures or other kinds of inputs processed fromthe operation of a gaming controller. The audio input 316 can beprocessed from a microphone 302 of the HMD 102, or from a microphoneincluded in the image capture device 108 or elsewhere within the localsystem environment. The motion input 318 can be processed from a motionsensor 300 included in the HMD 102, or from image capture device 108 asit captures images of the HMD 102. The game engine 320 receives inputswhich are processed according to the configuration of the game engine toupdate the game state of the video game. The game engine 320 outputsgame state data to various rendering modules which process the gamestate data to define content which will be presented to the user.

In the illustrated embodiment, a video rendering module 322 is definedto render a video stream for presentation on the HMD 102. The videostream may be presented by a first display/projector mechanism 310, andviewed through optics 308 by the eye 306 of the user. A second displayscreen 311 is disposed on the outside of a front face of the HMD 102.The second display screen 311 is configured to receive image or videodata from an image rendering module 323 or video rendering module 322for rendering. The image or video data transmitted by the imagerendering module 323 or the video rendering module 322 includes aportion of the facial features of a user captured while the user wasinteracting with content rendered on a display screen of the HMD.

An audio rendering module 324 is configured to render an audio streamfor listening by the user. In one embodiment, the audio stream is outputthrough a speaker 304 associated with the HMD 102. It should beappreciated that speaker 304 may take the form of an open air speaker,headphones, or any other kind of speaker capable of presenting audio. Insome embodiments, additional microphone 302 can be added and associatedwith the second display that is presenting content to an externalviewer. In this embodiment, the speaker 304 is associated with the firstdisplay of the HMD.

In one embodiment, a gaze tracking camera 312 is included in the HMD 102to enable tracking of the gaze of the user. Although only one gazetracking camera 312 is included, it should be noted that more than onegaze tracking camera may be employed to track the gaze of the user. Thegaze tracking camera captures images of the user's eyes, which areanalyzed to determine the gaze direction of the user. In one embodiment,information about the gaze direction of the user can be utilized toaffect the video rendering. For example, if a user's eyes are determinedto be looking in a specific direction, then the video rendering for thatdirection can be prioritized or emphasized, such as by providing greaterdetail or faster updates in the region where the user is looking. Itshould be appreciated that the gaze direction of the user can be definedrelative to the head mounted display, relative to a real environment inwhich the user is situated, and/or relative to a virtual environmentthat is being rendered on the head mounted display.

Broadly speaking, analysis of images captured by the gaze trackingcamera 312, when considered alone, provides for a gaze direction of theuser relative to the HMD 102. However, when considered in combinationwith the tracked location and orientation of the HMD 102, a real-worldgaze direction of the user can be determined, as the location andorientation of the HMD 102 is synonymous with the location andorientation of the user's head. That is, the real-world gaze directionof the user can be determined from tracking the positional movements ofthe user's eyes and tracking the location and orientation of the HMD102. When a view of a virtual environment is rendered on the HMD 102,the real-world gaze direction of the user can be applied to determine avirtual world gaze direction of the user in the virtual environment.

Additionally, a tactile feedback module 326 is configured to providesignals to tactile feedback hardware included in either the HMD 102 oranother device operated by the HMD user, such as a controller 104. Thetactile feedback may take the form of various kinds of tactilesensations, such as vibration feedback, temperature feedback, pressurefeedback, etc.

A HMD user may elect to interact with the interactive content, such asvideo game content, by wearing the HMD and selecting a video game forgame play. Interactive virtual reality (VR) scenes from the video gameare rendered on a display screen of the HMD. The HMD allows the user tocompletely immerse in the game play by provisioning display mechanism ofthe HMD in close proximity to the user's eyes. The display regionsdefined in the display screen of the HMD for rendering content occupylarge portions or even the entirety of the field of view of the user.

When a first user adorns the HMD, a portion of the first user's face ishidden behind the HMD. A second user (i.e., a non-HMD user or a seconduser wearing a HMD with a front facing external camera or a secondHMD-user with the help of the external camera 108) watching the firstuser (i.e., HMD user) interacting with the video game is unable to gaugethe first user's expression or to determine the gaze direction of thefirst user or if the first user is feeling dizzy or sick during gameplay, as the first user's expressions are masked by the HMD. The seconduser is only able to watch a portion of the first user's face that isnot covered by the HMD. Further, the second user does not have theability to see what content the first user is watching or interactingwith unless the content watched by the first user is displayed on thesecond display 311 or presented electronically at the first display ofthe HMD worn by the second user.

As used herein, a first user (or simply “a user”) is a HMD user that isviewing or interacting with some content presented on the HMD. A non-HMDuser is any other user that is observing the HMD user. The non-HMD usermay be a spectating user if the non-HMD user follows the game play ofthe HMD user. Although the non-HMD user means a user that is not wearingthe HMD, the non-HMD user may be another user wearing an HMD. As such,when a user is referenced herein, the reference is to the user wearingthe HMD and interacting with the content rendered on the HMD (i.e., theHMD user) and the non-HMD user is any other user that is viewing the HMDuser.

Implementations of the current disclosure provide ways to allow anon-HMD user to observe a HMD user's expression, while the HMD user isinteracting with content rendering on the HMD, without requiring the HMDuser to remove the HMD. The content that is being rendered on the HMDmay be interactive game content, interactive application content,content provided by a content provider or other user, or may begenerated by the HMD user.

In one implementation, the user's emotions expressed via the user'seyes, portion of the nose, and other facial features that are hiddenbehind the HMD, are captured as images by the gaze tracking camera 312and forwarded to an image rendering module 323 for further processing.In another implementation, the user's emotions and other facial featuresare captured as video by the gaze tracking camera 312 and forwarded to avideo rendering module 322. In both of the implementations, the gazetracking camera 312 is not only used to track the gaze direction of theuser but also to detect the HMD user's emotions expressed in the eyesand other facial features that are behind the HMD. In alternateimplementations, one or more inward facing cameras (not shown) may beemployed, in addition to the gaze tracking camera 312, to captureadditional images or videos of the user's expressions including changesto the user's expressions expressed via one or more facial features(e.g., user's eyes, nose, etc.) that are behind the HMD.

In some implementations, the image rendering module 323 and/or the videorendering module 322 receives the image or video of a portion of theuser's facial features that are behind the HMD from one or more image orvideo capturing devices, such as gaze tracking camera 312, other inwardfacing cameras, etc., and performs image and/or video analysis of theimage. As part of analyzing the image/video, for example, captured bythe image capturing device(s), the image rendering module 323 and/or thevideo rendering module 322 may retrieve an image of the user's fullfacial features captured by camera 108 at a time when the user was notwearing the HMD. The full facial image of the user may have beenpreviously captured and stored in either a user profile of the user orin cache memory, and retrieved every time the user wears the HMD tointeract with content presented on the HMD.

The image rendering module 323, for example, performs image analysis ofthe full facial image and the partial facial image captured by thedifferent cameras to identify contours and other feature characteristicscontained therein. The image rendering module 323 then uses thisanalysis to carefully map the portion of the facial features captured bythe image capturing device(s) and to generate image overlay data.Similar analysis may be done by the video rendering module 322 togenerate the image overlay data. The image overlay data is thenforwarded to the second display screen for overlaying on the existingfacial features.

To begin with, the portion of the facial features rendered on the seconddisplay screen may be from the full facial feature image of the usercaptured by the camera 108 or retrieved from a user profile, forexample. As the user begins to interact with the content and the user'sexpressions change, such changes are detected and captured by the imagecapturing camera(s), and an image overlay data reflecting the changes inthe portion of the facial features that are behind the HMD, isdynamically generated in real-time and provided to the second displayscreen for rendering.

In some implementations, more than one camera 108 may be used to capturethe full facial feature of the user. In such implementations, the imagescaptured by the different cameras 108 identifying different views, maybe processed to define a three-dimensional image (with depth, etc.). Insome implementations, the three-dimensional image data may be used toconstruct a two-dimensional image and the image from an image capturingdevice of the HMD 102, such as a camera that is directed inward towardthe face of the user, capturing a portion of the facial feature may beprocessed by matching the facial feature contours captured in theportion to corresponding facial feature contours of the two-dimensionalimage of the full facial feature of the user.

In some implementations, the images captured by the different cameras(gaze detection camera 312, inward facing camera(s) and the camera 108)are used to generate a three-dimensional image of the user's face andthe images captured by the gaze detection camera 312 and/or inwardfacing camera(s) are processed to generate a three-dimensional imageoverlay data. The three-dimensional image overlay data of the portion ofthe facial features behind the HMD, is generated by matching the facialfeature contours of the corresponding three-dimensional imagesrepresenting the portion and the full facial features of the user.

In one implementation, as part of constructing the image overlay data,the image rendering module 323 compares the portion of the facialfeatures captured by the image capturing device(s) with the portion ofthe facial features captured by the external camera 108 to determine ifthere are any changes. When a change is detected in the portion of thefacial features of the HMD user, the image rendering module 323constructs the overlay data by capturing the changes and forwards theimage overlay data to the second display screen 311 for rendering. Therendering includes superimposing the image overlay data over theexisting image of the portion of the facial features of the user that isrendered on the second display screen 311, by matching the contours ofthe features captured in the two different images (image captured by theexternal camera 108 and the image overlay data). Similar technique maybe used by the video rendering module 322 to match the contours of thefeatures captured in the video images in order to construct the videooverlay data for rendering at the second display screen 311. The portionof the facial features rendered on the second display screen 311completes the user's full facial feature and reflects the user's currentexpressions. The rendered image is visible to the non-HMD users as thesecond display screen 311 is facing forward and is disposed on the frontface of the HMD. The superimposition allows the non-HMD user to observethe HMD user's current expressions, as though the HMD user is notwearing the HMD. The capturing, processing and provisioning of the imagefor the portion of the user's facial features that are behind the HMD,are done in substantial real-time while the HMD user continues to viewor interact with the content that is currently rendering on the firstdisplay 310. The non-HMD users may observe the changing expressions asit is being provided by the HMD user, without the HMD user having toremove his HMD. In some implementation, the non-HMD users may track theexpressions of the HMD user to determine if the HMD user is feelingdizzy or is getting tired and warn the HMD user, so that the HMD usermay stop interacting with the content or take necessary steps to slowlydisassociate with the content. For example, the HMD user may becompletely immersed in a high-intensity video game that is rendering thecontent on the first display screen and may not even be aware of that heis getting tired or dizzy (e.g., a child using the HMD). The non-HMDuser may be able to observe the current expressions of the HMD user andprovide the necessary warning to the HMD user or take corrective actionsto prevent the HMD user from harming himself.

In some implementations, instead of or in addition to allowing a non-HMDuser to observe the HMD user's expression, the non-HMD user may be ableto view the same content that the HMD user is watching or interactingwith, without requiring the content to be rendered on an externaldisplay screen. In such implementations, the content that is rendered onthe first display 310 may also be forwarded to the second display screen311.

In some implementations, the non-HMD user may be able to view the HMDuser's changing expressions during the time the HMD user isviewing/interacting with content rendering on the first display screen310 for a period of time and then switch to viewing the HMD user'sinteraction with the content currently rendering on the first displayscreen 310 for a second period of time before switching back to theviewing the HMD user's expressions. In such implementations, the contentprovided to the second display screen 311 may be switched between imagesof the changing expressions of the HMD user and the images of the VRscene content. The switching in the content rendered on the seconddisplay screen 311 may be time-based or defined by the HMD user. Therespective content (image of the user or images of the VR scene content)may be viewed by the non-HMD user without requiring the content to bedisplayed on a display screen that is outside of the HMD and withoutrequiring the HMD user to remove his HMD.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate images of a HMD user as viewed by a non-HMD userbefore and after implementation of an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG.4A illustrates an image of the HMD user when the user is not wearing theHMD. This image may be part of his user profile and may have beencaptured by an external camera that is outside of the HMD. Alternately,this image may be provided by the user. FIG. 4B illustrates an image ofa user wearing the HMD, as perceived by a non-HMD user beforeimplementation of the current disclosure. The image of the user showsonly a portion of facial features, which excludes the eyes, portion ofthe nose and cheek that are behind the HMD. As a result, the non-HMDuser can not view the user's emotions that are expressed using thefacial features that are hidden behind the HMD.

FIG. 4C illustrates an image of the HMD user with all of his facialfeatures being rendered using the disclosure described in the variousembodiments. The eyes, portions of the nose and cheek that were behindthe HMD are now rendered on a second display screen 311 of the HMD,thereby providing a complete view of the HMD user's facial features to anon-HMD user.

When one or more facial features change, such changes reflectingdifferent emotions of the HMD user are rendered on the second displayscreen 311, as illustrated in FIGS. 4D-4F. For example, the emotionexpressed by the HMD user has changed from plain emotion to an angeremotion and this change is reflected in the image rendered on the seconddisplay screen 311. FIG. 4E illustrates another example emotion, asadness emotion, captured by the inward facing camera and rendered onthe second display screen 311 and FIG. 4F illustrates an image of theHMD user showing a surprise emotion. Each of the different emotions aredetected by the inward facing camera or gaze detection camera and isprovided for rendering the second display screen 311, so that thenon-HMD user watching the HMD user can see the change in expressiondefining the different emotions that the HMD user goes through whileinteracting or viewing content on the first display screen of the HMD.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate another example of content that is rendered on asecond display screen for a non-HMD user to see while observing a HMDuser, in one implementation. The second display screen 311 may be usedto render the facial expressions captured by the inward facing camera orimages from a virtual reality (VR) space, such as VR scenes from a videogame rendering on the first display screen 310 of the HMD 102. In FIG.5A, the second display screen 311 shows the HMD user's expression attime t1. As the HMD user continues to interact with content that isbeing rendered on the first display screen, the HMD user's expressionmay change and such expressions are captured and rendered on the seconddisplay screen 311. FIG. 5B illustrates one such expression of the HMDuser that was captured at time t2 and rendered on the second displayscreen 311. At time t3, the second display screen 311 may transitionfrom rendering images capturing the HMD user's expressions to renderingscenes from a VR space (i.e., content that is being rendered in thefirst display screen 310). FIG. 5C illustrates an example VR scene thatis currently rendering on the first display screen 310 is also beingrendered on the second display screen 311 so as to allow the non-HMDuser to view the content that the HMD user is viewing or interactingwith using the HMD. In some implementations, the switching of contentrendered on the second display screen 311 is in response to a signaldetected at the HMD. The signal may be a switch signal requiring thefirst image and the image overlay data currently rendering on the seconddisplay screen 311 to be switched out and the content of the VR scenethat is currently rendering on the first display screen 310 to berendered on the second display screen 311. In some implementation, thesignal may be generated by the HMD user or by another user (i.e.,another HMD user or a non-HMD user) who is observing the HMD user. Inother implementations, the signal may be time-based and generated at theHMD or at the computing device that is communicatively connected to theHMD.

In some implementations, the switching of content rendered on the seconddisplay screen 311 may last for a pre-defined period of time before thecontent rendered on the second display screen 311 is switched back torendering the first image and the image overlay data of the user wearingthe HMD. In alternate implementations, the content of the VR scene willcontinue to render till a second signal is received at the HMD to switchthe content rendering on the second display screen.

In some implementation, the signal detected at the HMD may be a requestfor rendering the content on the second display screen 311, in additionto rendering the facial features of the HMD user. In response todetecting the signal, the second display screen 311 may be split intotwo portions. A first portion of the second display screen 311 is usedto render the content from the VR scene by switching out a portion ofthe first image data and the image overlay data corresponding to thefirst portion and begin rendering the content from the VR scene in thefirst portion. A second portion of the second display screen 311 maycontinue to render the remaining portion of the first image and theimage overlay data of the HMD user. In alternate implementations, thedifferent content rendered in the first portion and the second portionmay be scaled to fit within the respective portions.

In some implementations, the switching out of the first portion of thesecond display screen may last for a pre-defined period of time and uponexpiration of the pre-defined period of time, the content from the VRscene is switched out and the corresponding portion of the first imageand the image overlay data is rendered in the first portion of thesecond display screen 311. In alternate implementations, the content ofthe VR scene will continue to render in the first portion till a secondsignal is received at the HMD to switch the content rendering in thefirst portion of the second display screen.

FIG. 5D illustrates an expanded view of a VR scene that is rendered onthe second display screen 311. As mentioned earlier, the VR scenecontent may be rendered on the entire second display screen 311 or in aportion of the second display screen 311. The HMD user is provided witha wider view of the VR scene 410 defined in the VR space as the displaymechanisms provided in the HMD allow the HMD user to have a broaderfield of view. Of course, due to a limited size of the second displayscreen 311, only a portion 410 a of the VR scene 410 viewed by the HMDuser may be presented for rendering on second display screen 311, insome implementations. FIG. 5D illustrates one such implementation,wherein a portion 410 a of the VR scene that is rendered on the seconddisplay screen 311 corresponds to the HMD user's gaze, while the HMDuser is presented with a much broader view of the VR space 410. In someother implementations, the VR space 410 that is presented in the firstdisplay screen 310 may be scaled down to a size of the second displayscreen 311 and rendered at the second display screen 311.

FIG. 6A illustrates an operation flow of a method, in one embodiment.The method begins at operation 610, wherein a first image of a user isreceived. The first image captures facial features of the user when theuser is not wearing a HMD. The first image may be obtained at a time theuser is ready to operate the HMD or may be retrieved from an image thatwas taken earlier and stored in the user profile.

A second image of the user wearing the HMD is received, as illustratedin operation 620. The second image captures the facial features of theuser that are behind the HMD and are taken by a gaze detection camerathat is mounted inside the HMD and directed toward a user's eye. Animage overlay data is generated for the facial features captured in thesecond image, as illustrated in operation 630. The image overlay data isgenerated by matching contours of the facial features of the usercaptured in the first image with the contours of the correspondingfacial features captured in the second image. The image overlay data isforwarded to the second display screen of the HMD for rendering, asillustrated in operation 640. The image overlay data is captured andrendered while the user is watching content on a first display screen ofthe HMD.

FIG. 6B illustrates operation flow of a method, in an alternateembodiment than the one discussed with reference to FIG. 6A. The methodbegins at operation 655, wherein a first image of a user is received.The first image captures facial features of the user when the user isnot wearing a HMD. The first image may be obtained at a time the user isready to operate the HMD or may be retrieved from an image that wastaken earlier and stored in the user profile.

A second image of the user wearing the HMD is received, as illustratedin operation 660. The second image captures the facial features of theuser that are behind the HMD and are taken by an image capturing devicethat is mounted inside the HMD and directed toward the user. The secondimage captures the current expression of the user and is used togenerate an image overlay data, as illustrated in operation 665. Theimage overlay data is generated by matching contours of the facialfeatures of the user captured in the first image with the contours ofthe corresponding facial features captured in the second image. Theimage overlay data is forwarded to the second display screen of the HMDfor rendering, as illustrated in operation 670. The image overlay datais captured and forwarded for rendering while the HMD user is watchingcontent on a first display screen of the HMD. The image overlay data isused to update a corresponding portion of the facial features capturedin the first image that is currently rendering on the second displayscreen.

A signal for rendering the content that is being rendered in the firstdisplay screen, is detected at the second display screen, as illustratedin operation 675. The signal may be generated by a user (either the HMDuser or a non-HMD user) or may be time-based. Further, the signal may bea request to switch out the image of the HMD user with the content ormay be a request to render the content of the VR scene on the seconddisplay screen in addition to the image of the HMD user.

In response to the signal, the content from the VR scene that is beingsent to the first display screen is also sent to the second displayscreen for rendering, as illustrated in operation 680. Based on thesignal, the content from the VR scene is rendered by switching out theimage of the HMD user or may be rendered in a portion of the seconddisplay screen 311 while the remaining portion of the second displayscreen 311 continues to render the image of the user.

The various embodiments described herein allow a non-HMD user to viewthe expressions of a HMD user while the HMD user is watching orinteracting with content rendered on a first display screen of the HMD.This allows the non-HMD users to view the HMD user's expressions withoutrequiring the HMD user to remove the HMD. Additionally, the variousembodiments allow non-HMD users to view the content that is beingrendered on the first screen without requiring the content to berendered on an external display screen of a second device. Rendering thecontent on a display screen of a second device would require identifyingand pairing of the second device with the HMD and the computer. Thevarious embodiments allow other users (HMD users or non-HMD users) toview the content the HMD user is viewing without requiring pairing ofadditional devices. Other advantages will become apparent to one skilledin the art.

Various embodiments described herein have been described with referenceto video games presented on a head-mounted display device. However, itwill be appreciated that in accordance with other embodiments, theprinciples and methods thus described may also be applied in the contextof other types of interactive applications, and in the context ofpresentation on other types of devices, including but not limited totelevisions and other types of displays on which interactiveapplications may be presented.

With reference to FIG. 7, a diagram illustrating components of ahead-mounted display 102 is shown, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. The head-mounted display 102 includes a processor 1300for executing program instructions. A memory 1302 is provided forstorage purposes, and may include both volatile and non-volatile memory.A display 1304 is included which provides a visual interface that a usermay view. A battery 1306 is provided as a power source for thehead-mounted display 102. A motion detection module 1308 may include anyof various kinds of motion sensitive hardware, such as a magnetometer1310, an accelerometer 1312, and a gyroscope 1314.

An accelerometer is a device for measuring acceleration and gravityinduced reaction forces. Single and multiple axis models are availableto detect magnitude and direction of the acceleration in differentdirections. The accelerometer is used to sense inclination, vibration,and shock. In one embodiment, three accelerometers 1312 are used toprovide the direction of gravity, which gives an absolute reference fortwo angles (world-space pitch and world-space roll).

A magnetometer measures the strength and direction of the magnetic fieldin the vicinity of the head-mounted display. In one embodiment, threemagnetometers 1310 are used within the head-mounted display, ensuring anabsolute reference for the world-space yaw angle. In one embodiment, themagnetometer is designed to span the earth magnetic field, which is ±80microtesla. Magnetometers are affected by metal, and provide a yawmeasurement that is monotonic with actual yaw. The magnetic field may bewarped due to metal in the environment, which causes a warp in the yawmeasurement. If necessary, this warp can be calibrated using informationfrom other sensors such as the gyroscope or the camera. In oneembodiment, accelerometer 1312 is used together with magnetometer 1310to obtain the inclination and azimuth of the head-mounted display 102.

A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, basedon the principles of angular momentum. In one embodiment, threegyroscopes 1314 provide information about movement across the respectiveaxis (x, y and z) based on inertial sensing. The gyroscopes help indetecting fast rotations. However, the gyroscopes can drift overtimewithout the existence of an absolute reference. This requires resettingthe gyroscopes periodically, which can be done using other availableinformation, such as positional/orientation determination based onvisual tracking of an object, accelerometer, magnetometer, etc.

A camera 1316 is provided for capturing images and image streams of areal environment. More than one camera may be included in thehead-mounted display 102, including a camera that is rear-facing(directed away from a user when the user is viewing the display of thehead-mounted display 102), and a camera that is front-facing (directedtowards the user when the user is viewing the display of thehead-mounted display 102). Additionally, a depth camera 1318 may beincluded in the head-mounted display 102 for sensing depth informationof objects in a real environment.

The head-mounted display 102 includes speakers 1320 for providing audiooutput. Also, a microphone 1322 may be included for capturing audio fromthe real environment, including sounds from the ambient environment,speech made by the user, etc. The head-mounted display 102 includestactile feedback module 1324 for providing tactile feedback to the user.In one embodiment, the tactile feedback module 1324 is capable ofcausing movement and/or vibration of the head-mounted display 102 so asto provide tactile feedback to the user.

LEDs 1326 are provided as visual indicators of statuses of thehead-mounted display 102. For example, an LED may indicate batterylevel, power on, etc. A card reader 1328 is provided to enable thehead-mounted display 102 to read and write information to and from amemory card. A USB interface 1330 is included as one example of aninterface for enabling connection of peripheral devices, or connectionto other devices, such as other portable devices, computers, etc. Invarious embodiments of the head-mounted display 102, any of variouskinds of interfaces may be included to enable greater connectivity ofthe head-mounted display 102.

A WiFi module 1332 is included for enabling connection to the Internetvia wireless networking technologies. Also, the head-mounted display 102includes a Bluetooth module 1334 for enabling wireless connection toother devices. A communications link 1336 may also be included forconnection to other devices. In one embodiment, the communications link1336 utilizes infrared transmission for wireless communication. In otherembodiments, the communications link 1336 may utilize any of variouswireless or wired transmission protocols for communication with otherdevices.

Input buttons/sensors 1338 are included to provide an input interfacefor the user. Any of various kinds of input interfaces may be included,such as buttons, touchpad, joystick, trackball, etc. An ultra-soniccommunication module 1340 may be included in head-mounted display 102for facilitating communication with other devices via ultra-sonictechnologies.

Bio-sensors 1342 are included to enable detection of physiological datafrom a user. In one embodiment, the bio-sensors 1342 include one or moredry electrodes for detecting bio-electric signals of the user throughthe user's skin.

The foregoing components of head-mounted display 102 have been describedas merely exemplary components that may be included in head-mounteddisplay 102. In various embodiments of the invention, the head-mounteddisplay 102 may or may not include some of the various aforementionedcomponents. Embodiments of the head-mounted display 102 may additionallyinclude other components not presently described, but known in the art,for purposes of facilitating aspects of the present invention as hereindescribed.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in variousembodiments of the invention, the aforementioned handheld device may beutilized in conjunction with an interactive application displayed on adisplay to provide various interactive functions. The exemplaryembodiments described herein are provided by way of example only, andnot by way of limitation.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a Game System 1400, according to variousembodiments of the invention. Game System 1400 is configured to providea video stream to one or more Clients 1410 via a Network 1415. GameSystem 1400 typically includes a Video Server System 1420 and anoptional game server 1425. Video Server System 1420 is configured toprovide the video stream to the one or more Clients 1410 with a minimalquality of service. For example, Video Server System 1420 may receive agame command that changes the state of or a point of view within a videogame, and provide Clients 1410 with an updated video stream reflectingthis change in state with minimal lag time. The Video Server System 1420may be configured to provide the video stream in a wide variety ofalternative video formats, including formats yet to be defined. Further,the video stream may include video frames configured for presentation toa user at a wide variety of frame rates. Typical frame rates are 30frames per second, 60 frames per second, and 1420 frames per second.Although higher or lower frame rates are included in alternativeembodiments of the invention.

Clients 1410, referred to herein individually as 1410A, 1410B, etc., mayinclude head mounted displays, terminals, personal computers, gameconsoles, tablet computers, telephones, set top boxes, kiosks, wirelessdevices, digital pads, stand-alone devices, handheld game playingdevices, and/or the like. Typically, Clients 1410 are configured toreceive encoded video streams, decode the video streams, and present theresulting video to a user, e.g., a player of a game. The processes ofreceiving encoded video streams and/or decoding the video streamstypically includes storing individual video frames in a receive bufferof the client. The video streams may be presented to the user on adisplay integral to Client 1410 or on a separate device such as amonitor or television. Clients 1410 are optionally configured to supportmore than one game player. For example, a game console may be configuredto support two, three, four or more simultaneous players. Each of theseplayers may receive a separate video stream, or a single video streammay include regions of a frame generated specifically for each player,e.g., generated based on each player's point of view. Clients 1410 areoptionally geographically dispersed. The number of clients included inGame System 1400 may vary widely from one or two to thousands, tens ofthousands, or more. As used herein, the term “game player” is used torefer to a person that plays a game and the term “game playing device”is used to refer to a device used to play a game. In some embodiments,the game playing device may refer to a plurality of computing devicesthat cooperate to deliver a game experience to the user. For example, agame console and an HMD may cooperate with the video server system 1420to deliver a game viewed through the HMD. In one embodiment, the gameconsole receives the video stream from the video server system 1420, andthe game console forwards the video stream, or updates to the videostream, to the HMD for rendering.

Clients 1410 are configured to receive video streams via Network 1415.Network 1415 may be any type of communication network including, atelephone network, the Internet, wireless networks, powerline networks,local area networks, wide area networks, private networks, and/or thelike. In typical embodiments, the video streams are communicated viastandard protocols, such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP. Alternatively, the videostreams are communicated via proprietary standards.

A typical example of Clients 1410 is a personal computer comprising aprocessor, non-volatile memory, a display, decoding logic, networkcommunication capabilities, and input devices. The decoding logic mayinclude hardware, firmware, and/or software stored on a computerreadable medium. Systems for decoding (and encoding) video streams arewell known in the art and vary depending on the particular encodingscheme used.

Clients 1410 may, but are not required to, further include systemsconfigured for modifying received video. For example, a client may beconfigured to perform further rendering, to overlay one video image onanother video image, to crop a video image, and/or the like. Forexample, Clients 1410 may be configured to receive various types ofvideo frames, such as I-frames, P-frames and B-frames, and to processthese frames into images for display to a user. In some embodiments, amember of Clients 1410 is configured to perform further rendering,shading, conversion to 3-D, or like operations on the video stream. Amember of Clients 1410 is optionally configured to receive more than oneaudio or video stream. Input devices of Clients 1410 may include, forexample, a one-hand game controller, a two-hand game controller, agesture recognition system, a gaze recognition system, a voicerecognition system, a keyboard, a joystick, a pointing device, a forcefeedback device, a motion and/or location sensing device, a mouse, atouch screen, a neural interface, a camera, input devices yet to bedeveloped, and/or the like.

The video stream (and optionally audio stream) received by Clients 1410is generated and provided by Video Server System 1420. As is describedfurther elsewhere herein, this video stream includes video frames (andthe audio stream includes audio frames). The video frames are configured(e.g., they include pixel information in an appropriate data structure)to contribute meaningfully to the images displayed to the user. As usedherein, the term “video frames” is used to refer to frames includingpredominantly information that is configured to contribute to, e.g. toeffect, the images shown to the user. Most of the teachings herein withregard to “video frames” can also be applied to “audio frames.”

Clients 1410 are typically configured to receive inputs from a user.These inputs may include game commands configured to change the state ofthe video game or otherwise affect game play. The game commands can bereceived using input devices and/or may be automatically generated bycomputing instructions executing on Clients 1410. The received gamecommands are communicated from Clients 1410 via Network 1415 to VideoServer System 1420 and/or Game Server 1425. For example, in someembodiments, the game commands are communicated to Game Server 1425 viaVideo Server System 1420. In some embodiments, separate copies of thegame commands are communicated from Clients 1410 to Game Server 1425 andVideo Server System 1420. The communication of game commands isoptionally dependent on the identity of the command Game commands areoptionally communicated from Client 1410A through a different route orcommunication channel that that used to provide audio or video streamsto Client 1410A.

Game Server 1425 is optionally operated by a different entity than VideoServer System 1420. For example, Game Server 1425 may be operated by thepublisher of a multiplayer game. In this example, Video Server System1420 is optionally viewed as a client by Game Server 1425 and optionallyconfigured to appear from the point of view of Game Server 1425 to be aprior art client executing a prior art game engine. Communicationbetween Video Server System 1420 and Game Server 1425 optionally occursvia Network 1415. As such, Game Server 1425 can be a prior artmultiplayer game server that sends game state information to multipleclients, one of which is game server system 1420. Video Server System1420 may be configured to communicate with multiple instances of GameServer 1425 at the same time. For example, Video Server System 1420 canbe configured to provide a plurality of different video games todifferent users. Each of these different video games may be supported bya different Game Server 1425 and/or published by different entities. Insome embodiments, several geographically distributed instances of VideoServer System 1420 are configured to provide game video to a pluralityof different users. Each of these instances of Video Server System 1420may be in communication with the same instance of Game Server 1425.Communication between Video Server System 1420 and one or more GameServer 1425 optionally occurs via a dedicated communication channel. Forexample, Video Server System 1420 may be connected to Game Server 1425via a high bandwidth channel that is dedicated to communication betweenthese two systems.

Video Server System 1420 comprises at least a Video Source 1430, an I/ODevice 1445, a Processor 1450, and non-transitory Storage 1455. VideoServer System 1420 may include one computing device or be distributedamong a plurality of computing devices. These computing devices areoptionally connected via a communications system such as a local areanetwork.

Video Source 1430 is configured to provide a video stream, e.g.,streaming video or a series of video frames that form a moving picture.In some embodiments, Video Source 1430 includes a video game engine andrendering logic. The video game engine is configured to receive gamecommands from a player and to maintain a copy of the state of the videogame based on the received commands. This game state includes theposition of objects in a game environment, as well as typically a pointof view. The game state may also include properties, images, colorsand/or textures of objects. The game state is typically maintained basedon game rules, as well as game commands such as move, turn, attack, setfocus to, interact, use, and/or the like. Part of the game engine isoptionally disposed within Game Server 1425. Game Server 1425 maymaintain a copy of the state of the game based on game commands receivedfrom multiple players using geographically disperse clients. In thesecases, the game state is provided by Game Server 1425 to Video Source1430, wherein a copy of the game state is stored and rendering isperformed. Game Server 1425 may receive game commands directly fromClients 1410 via Network 1415, and/or may receive game commands viaVideo Server System 1420.

Video Source 1430 typically includes rendering logic, e.g., hardware,firmware, and/or software stored on a computer readable medium such asStorage 1455. This rendering logic is configured to create video framesof the video stream based on the game state. All or part of therendering logic is optionally disposed within a graphics processing unit(GPU). Rendering logic typically includes processing stages configuredfor determining the three-dimensional spatial relationships betweenobjects and/or for applying appropriate textures, etc., based on thegame state and viewpoint. The rendering logic produces raw video that isthen usually encoded prior to communication to Clients 1410. Forexample, the raw video may be encoded according to an Adobe Flash®standard, .wav, H.264, H.263, On2, VP6, VC-1, WMA, Huffyuv, Lagarith,MPG-x. Xvid. FFmpeg, x264, VP6-8, realvideo, mp3, or the like. Theencoding process produces a video stream that is optionally packaged fordelivery to a decoder on a remote device. The video stream ischaracterized by a frame size and a frame rate. Typical frame sizesinclude 800×600, 1280×720 (e.g., 720p), 1024×768, although any otherframe sizes may be used. The frame rate is the number of video framesper second. A video stream may include different types of video frames.For example, the H.264 standard includes a “P” frame and a “I” frame.I-frames include information to refresh all macro blocks/pixels on adisplay device, while P-frames include information to refresh a subsetthereof. P-frames are typically smaller in data size than are I-frames.As used herein the term “frame size” is meant to refer to a number ofpixels within a frame. The term “frame data size” is used to refer to anumber of bytes required to store the frame.

In alternative embodiments Video Source 1430 includes a video recordingdevice such as a camera. This camera may be used to generate delayed orlive video that can be included in the video stream of a computer game.The resulting video stream, optionally includes both rendered images andimages recorded using a still or video camera. Video Source 1430 mayalso include storage devices configured to store previously recordedvideo to be included in a video stream. Video Source 1430 may alsoinclude motion or positioning sensing devices configured to detectmotion or position of an object, e.g., person, and logic configured todetermine a game state or produce video-based on the detected motionand/or position.

Video Source 1430 is optionally configured to provide overlaysconfigured to be placed on other video. For example, these overlays mayinclude a command interface, log in instructions, messages to a gameplayer, images of other game players, video feeds of other game players(e.g., webcam video). In embodiments of Client 1410A including a touchscreen interface or a gaze detection interface, the overlay may includea virtual keyboard, joystick, touch pad, and/or the like. In one exampleof an overlay a player's voice is overlaid on an audio stream. VideoSource 1430 optionally further includes one or more audio sources.

In embodiments wherein Video Server System 1420 is configured tomaintain the game state based on input from more than one player, eachplayer may have a different point of view comprising a position anddirection of view. Video Source 1430 is optionally configured to providea separate video stream for each player based on their point of view.Further, Video Source 1430 may be configured to provide a differentframe size, frame data size, and/or encoding to each of Client 1410.Video Source 1430 is optionally configured to provide 3-D video.

I/O Device 1445 is configured for Video Server System 1420 to sendand/or receive information such as video, commands, requests forinformation, a game state, gaze information, device motion, devicelocation, user motion, client identities, player identities, gamecommands, security information, audio, and/or the like. I/O Device 1445typically includes communication hardware such as a network card ormodem. I/O Device 1445 is configured to communicate with Game Server1425, Network 1415, and/or Clients 1410.

Processor 1450 is configured to execute logic, e.g. software, includedwithin the various components of Video Server System 1420 discussedherein. For example, Processor 1450 may be programmed with softwareinstructions in order to perform the functions of Video Source 1430,Game Server 1425, and/or a Client Qualifier 1460. Video Server System1420 optionally includes more than one instance of Processor 1450.Processor 1450 may also be programmed with software instructions inorder to execute commands received by Video Server System 1420, or tocoordinate the operation of the various elements of Game System 1400discussed herein. Processor 1450 may include one or more hardwaredevice. Processor 1450 is an electronic processor.

Storage 1455 includes non-transitory analog and/or digital storagedevices. For example, Storage 1455 may include an analog storage deviceconfigured to store video frames. Storage 1455 may include a computerreadable digital storage, e.g. a hard drive, an optical drive, or solidstate storage. Storage 1415 is configured (e.g. by way of an appropriatedata structure or file system) to store video frames, artificial frames,a video stream including both video frames and artificial frames, audioframe, an audio stream, and/or the like. Storage 1455 is optionallydistributed among a plurality of devices. In some embodiments, Storage1455 is configured to store the software components of Video Source 1430discussed elsewhere herein. These components may be stored in a formatready to be provisioned when needed.

Video Server System 1420 optionally further comprises Client Qualifier1460. Client Qualifier 1460 is configured for remotely determining thecapabilities of a client, such as Clients 1410A or 1410B. Thesecapabilities can include both the capabilities of Client 1410A itself aswell as the capabilities of one or more communication channels betweenClient 1410A and Video Server System 1420. For example, Client Qualifier1460 may be configured to test a communication channel through Network1415.

Client Qualifier 1460 can determine (e.g., discover) the capabilities ofClient 1410A manually or automatically. Manual determination includescommunicating with a user of Client 1410A and asking the user to providecapabilities. For example, in some embodiments, Client Qualifier 1460 isconfigured to display images, text, and/or the like within a browser ofClient 1410A. In one embodiment, Client 1410A is an HMD that includes abrowser. In another embodiment, client 1410A is a game console having abrowser, which may be displayed on the HMD. The displayed objectsrequest that the user enter information such as operating system,processor, video decoder type, type of network connection, displayresolution, etc. of Client 1410A. The information entered by the user iscommunicated back to Client Qualifier 1460.

Automatic determination may occur, for example, by execution of an agenton Client 1410A and/or by sending test video to Client 1410A. The agentmay comprise computing instructions, such as java script, embedded in aweb page or installed as an add-on. The agent is optionally provided byClient Qualifier 1460. In various embodiments, the agent can find outprocessing power of Client 1410A, decoding and display capabilities ofClient 1410A, lag time reliability and bandwidth of communicationchannels between Client 1410A and Video Server System 1420, a displaytype of Client 1410A, firewalls present on Client 1410A, hardware ofClient 1410A, software executing on Client 1410A, registry entrieswithin Client 1410A, and/or the like.

Client Qualifier 1460 includes hardware, firmware, and/or softwarestored on a computer readable medium. Client Qualifier 1460 isoptionally disposed on a computing device separate from one or moreother elements of Video Server System 1420. For example, in someembodiments, Client Qualifier 1460 is configured to determine thecharacteristics of communication channels between Clients 1410 and morethan one instance of Video Server System 1420. In these embodiments theinformation discovered by Client Qualifier can be used to determinewhich instance of Video Server System 1420 is best suited for deliveryof streaming video to one of Clients 1410.

Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced with variouscomputer system configurations including hand-held devices,microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Theinvention can also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a wire-based or wireless network.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theinvention can employ various computer-implemented operations involvingdata stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiringphysical manipulation of physical quantities. Any of the operationsdescribed herein that form part of the invention are useful machineoperations. The invention also relates to a device or an apparatus forperforming these operations. The apparatus can be specially constructedfor the required purpose, or the apparatus can be a general-purposecomputer selectively activated or configured by a computer programstored in the computer. In particular, various general-purpose machinescan be used with computer programs written in accordance with theteachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a morespecialized apparatus to perform the required operations.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on acomputer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can be thereafter be read by acomputer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include harddrives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-accessmemory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes and other optical andnon-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium caninclude computer readable tangible medium distributed over anetwork-coupled computer system so that the computer readable code isstored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although the method operations were described in a specific order, itshould be understood that other housekeeping operations may be performedin between operations, or operations may be adjusted so that they occurat slightly different times, or may be distributed in a system whichallows the occurrence of the processing operations at various intervalsassociated with the processing, as long as the processing of the overlayoperations are performed in the desired way.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications can be practiced within the scope of theappended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving a first image ofa user captured by an external camera, the image capturing facialfeatures of the user when the user is not wearing a head mounted display(HMD); receiving a second image of the user when the user is wearing theHMD, the second image captures a portion of the facial features of theuser while the user is interacting with content rendered on a firstdisplay screen of the HMD, the second image taken by an inward facingcamera captures a current expression of the user by capturing theportion of the facial features of the user that are behind the HMD;generating image overlay data by matching contours of the portion of thefacial features captured in the second image with contours ofcorresponding facial features captured in the first image of the user;forwarding the first image and the image overlay data for rendering on asecond display screen that is mounted on a front face of the HMD, theimage overlay data used to update corresponding portion of the facialfeatures in the first image when rendering on the second display screenthat is visible to a non-HMD user, wherein operations of the method areperformed by one or more processors of a computer that iscommunicatively coupled to the HMD.
 2. The method of claim 1, furtherincludes, capturing changes to the second image of the user using theinward facing camera, the changes capturing the current expression ofthe user; and generating an updated image overlay data to reflect thechanges to the second image captured by the inward facing camera, theupdated image overlay data forwarded to the second display screen forupdating the first image of the user.
 3. The method of claim 1, furtherincludes continuing to monitor the current expression of the user whilethe user is engaged in interacting with the content rendered on thefirst display screen of the HMD, the monitoring used for generatingupdated image overlay data.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thecontent is interactive game play content generated by a video gameselected for game play by the user.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe content is user generated content provided by the user or by anotheruser.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first image and the secondimage capturing the facial features of the user are three-dimensionalimages and wherein the image overlay data is three-dimensional datagenerated by matching contours of the facial features in three-dimensioncaptured in the second image to contours of corresponding facialfeatures in three-dimension captured in the first image.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the image overlay data is configured to besuperimposed over corresponding portion of the first image rendered onthe second display screen.
 8. The method of claim 1, further includesswitching content presented on the second display screen, the content onthe second display screen being switched from rendering the facialfeatures of the user to rendering the content that is currently beingrendered on the first display screen.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe switching of content is temporal based.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the switching of content is based on a signal provided by theuser wearing the HMD or by another user.
 11. A method, comprising:receiving a first image of a user captured by an external camera, theimage capturing facial features of the user when the user is not wearinga head mounted display (HMD); receiving a second image of the user whenthe user is wearing the HMD, the second image captures a portion of thefacial features of the user while the user is interacting with contentrendered on a first display screen of the HMD, the second image taken byan inward facing camera captures a current expression of the user bycapturing the portion of the facial features of the user that are behindthe HMD, the second image used to generate image overlay data bymatching contours of the facial features captured in the second imagewith contours of corresponding facial features captured in the firstimage of the user; forwarding the first image and the image overlay datafor rendering on a second display screen that is mounted on a front faceof the HMD, the image overlay data used to update corresponding portionof the facial features captured in the first image when rendering on thesecond display screen that is visible to a non-HMD user; detecting asignal for rendering on the second display screen the content that isbeing rendered on the first display screen, the signal detected whilethe user is interacting with the content currently rendering on thefirst display screen; in response to detecting the signal, forwardingthe content currently rendering on the first display screen to thesecond display screen for rendering, wherein operations of the methodare performed by one or more processors of a computer that iscommunicatively coupled to the HMD.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe signal is a switch signal, the signal causing switching out thefirst image and the image overlay data, and begin rendering the contenton the second display screen.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein thecontent is rendered for a pre-defined period of time, and uponexpiration of the pre-defined period of time, continue rendering thefirst image and the image overlay data on the second display screen. 14.The method of claim 11, wherein in response to the signal, transitioninga first portion of the second display screen to begin rendering thecontent while continue rendering a portion of the first image and theimage overlay data that correspond with a second portion of the seconddisplay screen.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the rendering of thecontent in the first portion is done for a pre-defined period of time,and upon expiration of the pre-defined period of time, begin renderingcorresponding portion of the first image and the image overlay data inthe second portion of the second display screen.
 16. The method of claim11, wherein the signal is temporal based.
 17. The method of claim 11,wherein the signal is provided by the user wearing the HMD or by anotheruser.
 18. A head mounted display, comprising: a lens of optics forviewing content; a first display screen disposed behind the lens ofoptics such that the lens of optics is between the display screen and aneye of a user, when the head mounted display (HMD) is worn by the user,the display screen configured for rendering the content; an inwardfacing camera mounted on an inside of the HMD and configured to capturean image of a portion of facial features of the user that is behind theHMD; electronic circuitry to communicate the image to a computercommunicatively coupled to the HMD, wherein the electronic circuitry isconfigured to receive an image overlay and a second image from thecomputer and forward to a second display screen, the image overlaygenerated by matching contours of the portion of the facial features ofthe user captured in the image and the second image; and the seconddisplay screen disposed on a front face of the HMD and facing outward,the second display screen is configured for rendering the image overlayto update corresponding portion of the facial features of the user. 19.The head mounted display of claim 18, wherein the second image iscaptured by an external camera communicatively connected to the computerand includes full facial features of the user when the user is notwearing the HMD.